A man-eating tigress named Avni, who is believed to have been responsible for 13 deaths in Maharashtra, was killed Yavatmal region on Friday night.

"The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated," tweeted the Congress president, quoting Mahatma Gandhi.

It is reported that the locals celebrated the animal’s killing by distributing sweets.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi too on Sunday attacked the BJP-led Maharashtra government for the “ghastly murder” of Avni, saying a shooter who was sent behind bars for illegally supplying arms to terrorists was deputed to kill the animal.

The minister said she would write to the Maharashtra chief minister to take strong action in the matter and would take up the issue “legally, criminally as well as politically”

More than 9,000 people had signed a petition on Change.org calling for the tigress to be captured alive rather than killed.

India is home to more than half of the world's tiger population with some 2,226 of the animals roaming its reserves, according to the count in 2014.

Dozens die every year, sometimes at the hands of poachers, while reports of man-animal conflict are not uncommon. Wildlife activists say they occur when humans encroach into tiger corridors.